The accumulation of barium by marine phytoplankton grown in culture

Barium bioconcentration was studied in 21 clones of 19 species of marine phytoplankters belonging to nine algal classes. Ba levels in the ash ranged from <2 μg g^-1 for the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi and the red alga Porphyridium cruentum to 589 μg g^-1 for the flagellate Tetraselmis levis. Concentration factors on a volume basis ranged from 0 to 3.2 × 10⁴. Dinoflagellates and several other algae not only concentrated Ba to relatively high levels, but also accumulated Si when grown in Si-enriched medium. -from Authors